West Jerusalem has relaxed new settlement construction and augmented its authority in the occupied territories
London has criticized Israel’s security cabinet’s decision to promote settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, calling on it to revoke the move.
This change will make it simpler for Jewish settlers to purchase land in the West Bank, eliminating the requirement to obtain a special permit from Israeli authorities.
Additionally, it grants more authority to the authorities in regions that are supposed to be fully under Palestinian control.
The British government has strongly denounced the decision and demanded that Israel revoke it at once.
“Any unilateral effort to alter Palestine’s geographical or demographic composition is entirely unacceptable and goes against international law,” the UK government said in a statement.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline ultranationalist, stated that West Jerusalem is determined to ‘eradicate the concept of a Palestinian state.’ In a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Smotrich explained the security cabinet’s decisions made over the weekend.
Ministers stated that the cabinet has eliminated the requirement for those seeking to acquire land in the West Bank to obtain a permit from a civil administration office. It also repealed a law from the Jordanian control era to make land registries public instead of confidential. Smotrich and Katz explained that these measures will make it simpler for Jewish settlers to buy land.
Critics contend that Israel’s latest action is a step toward fully annexing the West Bank, a goal long pursued by Israeli hardliners. The Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, which supports a two-state solution, stated that the cabinet’s decision further normalized settlement construction, which is deemed illegal under international law.
“The decision to allow every Israeli to buy land in the West Bank without government approval or inspection is another way of saying it’s normal life. It’s not an occupied territory; it’s like part of Israel,” Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran has said.
This move also goes against the policy of Israel’s key ally, the US. President Donald Trump has repeatedly opposed the potential annexation of the West Bank, asserting that it ‘would not occur.’